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Number of Coders In Congress To Triple (From One To Three)

Posted by samzenpus on from the small-steps dept.

jfruh writes Last weekend, Tim Berners-Lee said that the UK needs more members of parliament who can code. Well, the most recent U.S. congressional election has obliged him on this side of the Atlantic: the number of coders in Congress has tripled, with the downside being that their numbers have gone from one to three.

5 of 163 comments (clear)

  1. Ah, define "coder" please. by geekmux · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Given the average age of those serving in Congress, perhaps it's important to define the term "coder" here.

    Sure it's always beneficial to have a few "geeks" as lawmakers, but I kinda doubt that someone who took a FORTRAN class a few decades ago is going to be providing much value towards policy governing next-gen internet technologies.

  2. Oh god, no. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Every coder I've ever met has a black-and-white worldview that is utterly incompatible with formulating any sort of big-picture view of managing a country. Government is not an algorithm and can *not* be managed like one. Government is about grey areas, and managing people, not computer programs. Get the coders out of congress and into the GSO where they belong.

    1. Re:Oh god, no. by neonKow · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Every coder I've ever met has a black-and-white worldview

      Hm... So I take it you're a coder as well?

  3. Re:IQ of congress by tnk1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A world full of people like that means that a person of a skillset and interest that you are attributing to yourself should be able to find a very comfortable place.

    I look at it this way. I'm not a fan of car salesmen. However, if I love cars, design a good one, and want to make a business out of it, I need car salesmen to sell the cars. Not all of them will love cars. Some of them will simply love making money or sales. They still help my dream to come true.

    In theory, for every bunch of boot camp MCSEs out there, there needs to be at least one person who knows what they are doing. Although it feels like you may now be surrounded by careerists who don't love computing, those careerists ultimately make it possible for people who love computers to have a bigger niche to fit into.

    The percentage of people who love computing against the careerists may be the same, or even lower than it was before, but the absolute number of enthusiasts has probably never been higher.

  4. Coding, maybe. Science for sure. by Primate+Pete · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Really, I don't need my legislators to know how to program, because I don't know that programming skills are what's needed to produce good legislation and policy.

    Basic literacy in science, and the honesty to make evidence-based decisions would be much higher on my list of essential skills for congressvermin.